Young Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna struggled on his Test debut against South Africa. The right-arm pacer was unpredictable and lacked imagination and the fundamental discipline required to bowl in the line and length suitable for a Test match.
This poor performance was one of the main reasons India was unable to put pressure on South African batters after Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were withdrawn from the attack. After a disappointing loss by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion, captain Rohit Sharma stated that they would support the pacer.
However, the Indian team management rushed to add Avesh Khan to the squad for the second encounter in Cape Town, suggesting that Prasidh would be dropped from the starting XI. Avesh has a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the second unofficial match between India A and South Africa A.
According to a former Indian bowler who declined to be identified, Prasidh Krishna is not ready to play the longer format of the game and believes he lacks playing time in red-ball cricket. The former bowler further added that Indian bowlers lack the same level of excitement as bowlers during the Virat Kohli era and that Avesh Khan can provide the same level of bowling as Prasidh Krishna.
“Poor Prasidh… The kid isn’t ready for Test cricket. He doesn’t have the skills to bowl second and third spells yet. They went with him based on his ability to hit the deck. But they forgot when has he last played a proper season of Ranji Trophy? Just one India A game isn’t enough,”
“The problem is India’s next generation of pacers don’t evoke the same kind of excitement and confidence that Bumrah, Shami, Ishant, and Siraj produced”.
“Avesh is the same type of bowler like Prasidh but plays red-ball cricket more regularly. So he might hit better lengths. Navdeep Saini has still playing India A for six years. That tells you the story,” a former Indian pacer said.
The team management chose Prasidh Krishna over Mukesh Kumar for the 1st match in South Africa, based on the success of tall hit-the-deck bowlers on these pitches. Historically, bowlers who can extract more bounce from the surface have done well here.
However, Prasidh struggled with his line and length and could not execute this strategy effectively.
It seems that Shardul Thakur’s time as a bits-and-pieces cricketer may be coming to an end. He has not been able to deliver with either the ball or the bat, making him neither a threatening bowler nor a dependable batter and the pace bowler would be keen on turning things around in the 2nd game against South Africa in Cape Town.
